Diner

I'm ticked off at myself for not thanking a member of our military, who I saw at the airport on Thanksgiving Day, for his service to our country. I am hopeful he was heading home on leave and was not alone on the holiday. I'm not the first and I won't be the last to decry the lack of manners and courtesy that surrounds us these days. To the person upset about paying school taxes: Do you not understand that the children you paid to educate are now earning a salary and paying your social security!

Jim Abbott on Florida Travel and Postcards from Florida, April 5, 2014

It's no secret that this travel column is powered by the potential for interesting dining stops. By that standard, this week's column is a work of genius: A road trip to two North Florida destinations, both boasting fine, funky restaurants. My main goal was the stop at Angel's Dining Car, a nostalgic eatery touted as the state's oldest diner. Open since 1932, Angel's is one of the distinctive landmarks in downtown Palatka (about 60 miles south of Jacksonville). I was worried that I might miss it as I cruised south on U.S. Highway 17, also known as Reid Street in Palatka, but the shiny silver cylinder is eye-catching.

A wall of fire consumed what used to be an East Colonial Drive diner in a blaze that took Orange County firefighters several attempts to extinguish. The state fire marshal is investigating what sparked the flames inside the 5 & Diner, a 1950s-themed eatery, in the 12000 block of East Colonial Drive near Waterford Lakes Town Center. Witnesses called 911 about 2:45 a.m. and said heavy smoke was emanating from the building. No one was inside the business or was hurt in the fire.

MOUNT DORA - Jeremy Kaminsky portrays pastor Gary in Lazarus Filmworks' "The Diner," which recently finished filming in Lake County. "I feel blessed to be part of the production," said Kaminsky, who has been acting for about two decades. "I can't wait to see it in the theater.…It's a fantastic story. " The Christian-based movie by De Miller also features Tracy Goode ("Facing the Giants") and Michael Santi as Hector "Chuy" Conchola. Dan Dennis, owner of Fly On The Wall Entertainment and Promotions in Mount Dora, served as director of photography.

Parramore's iconic Johnson's Diner -- the soul-food favorite of politicians and professional athletes -- has been shut down over a tax dispute. Restaurant president Clarence Taylor III said he's working to satisfy the Florida Department of Revenue and hopes to reopen the eatery founded by his grandmother, Lillian Johnson, by Tuesday. "We're not gone," he said. "Don't put a nail in our coffin yet." State tax officials apparently ordered the restaurant closed on Tuesday, though no one with the agency could be reached for comment on Thursday.

Johnson's Diner, the Parramore eatery where downtown workers can rub elbows with Orlando Magic players and politicians such as Gov. Charlie Crist, is in trouble with the tax man. Two years after moving into new, fancier digs, the family-owned diner owes the state at least $62,000. The business has been collecting sales tax on its plates of fried catfish, smothered chicken and meatloaf but hasn't passed it on to the state. "It's not an attempt to defraud the state of Florida," said restaurant president Clarence Taylor III. "We're not trying to run from it. It's our mistake, it's our debt and we will pay it."

Before there was the 25-story Orange County Courthouse on Orange Avenue, there was Enzor's Drug Store on the corner of Orange and Amelia Street. The drugstore and its lunch counter had been on that corner of downtown Orlando since 1925 In 1988 it was purchased by Jim Rowlinson and his wife, Mary Lou. The downtown diner represented a short period in the life of James J. Rowlinson, 84, who died April 14 of complications related to Parkinson's disease....

When Justin Timberlake performs Thursday night at Amway Center, it will be a homecoming for a pop star who started his career in Orlando. Even casual fans likely recall the images of Timberlake as a childhood cast member of "The New Mickey Mouse Club," produced in the early 1990s at Disney-MGM Studios (now Disney's Hollywood Studios). They might recall that 'N Sync recorded at Trans Continental Studios, a state-of-the-art studio in an anonymous-looking warehouse complex off Sand Lake Road south of Orlando.

The trip to Roseanne & Tom's Big Food Diner is almost as hard as your arteries will be by the time you get home. Grease is the word.''Oh yeah, it's horrible for you - but people seem to like it,'' Tom Arnold said.Yes, the food at Roseanne & Tom's is good, if not good for you. The service is better. And the prices are reasonable, provided you don't buy a $16 T-shirt, $14 souvenir cap, $7 coffee mug and a $5 Roseanne & Tom tape measure, which which will quickly turn your $5 meal into about a $50 shopping spree.

I've been diner-searching because I go out to lunch a lot, and one likes to be economical, you know. But except for Johnson's and Queen Bee's, the diners I've been to so far just don't measure up in quality to Logan's and Houston's, my favorite lunch places. My favorites are pricey, but you get what you pay for. (I had a pricey Mother's Day at Doc's, which offered packages even though they told me on the phone they would be having their regular menu. I didn't really feel we got what we paid for.)

MOUNT DORA - That's a wrap. "The Diner," a Christian-based movie from Lazarus Filmworks in Mount Dora, wrapped its more than two weeks of filming into the wee hours of Feb. 14. The shoot for the final three scenes took place at the First United Methodist Church of Mount Dora. At least one scene was set in the chill of a windy 30 degrees. "I was one of the lucky ones," said actor Wade Williams, who plays a two-time world boxing champion, Sonny Boone. "I got to wear a long-sleeve shirt.

TAVARES - A new eatery has opened at the site of the former Soup to Nuts Diner, which closed last year shortly after it was featured in an episode of the Food Network show "Restaurant: Impossible. " Billy Nasralla opened the Hwy 441 Diner in January after several months of extensive renovations and deep cleaning at the restaurant at 381 E. Burleigh Blvd. "We've redone the kitchen completely with new grills and walk in freezer," said Nasralla, who also purchased new lighting, chairs and booths for the diner.

When Justin Timberlake performs Thursday night at Amway Center, it will be a homecoming for a pop star who started his career in Orlando. Even casual fans likely recall the images of Timberlake as a childhood cast member of "The New Mickey Mouse Club," produced in the early 1990s at Disney-MGM Studios (now Disney's Hollywood Studios). They might recall that 'N Sync recorded at Trans Continental Studios, a state-of-the-art studio in an anonymous-looking warehouse complex off Sand Lake Road south of Orlando.

TAVARES — Sharon Whitmore has served up the last of her signature tenderloins at the Soup to Nuts Diner. She said she couldn't keep up with "ballooning" mortgage payments and high employee-payroll taxes and decided to close the diner five months after muscular celebrity chef Robert Irvine attempted to pump new life into the eatery for an episode on the Food Network show "Restaurant: Impossible. " Whitmore, who owned the restaurant off U.S. Highway 41 for the past decade, said she was ready for a "life change.

When a customer walks in the doors of the Winter Park Diner, he or she is greeted by friendly staff smiles, a homey atmosphere and menu items reminiscent of family favorites. This atmosphere is important to Linda D'Auria, who has owned the Winter Park Diner since 1988, and it is a key part of the draw for longtime customers. "This place is like the 'Cheers' of eating places," said Patrice Shirer, a Winter Park custom homebuilder, who has been a regular customer for more than 30 years.

A wall of fire consumed what used to be an East Colonial Drive diner in a blaze that took Orange County firefighters several attempts to extinguish. The state fire marshal is investigating what sparked the flames inside the 5 & Diner, a 1950s-themed eatery, in the 12000 block of East Colonial Drive near Waterford Lakes Town Center. Witnesses called 911 about 2:45 a.m. and said heavy smoke was emanating from the building. No one was inside the business or was hurt in the fire.

A diner who refused to pay his bill was arrested Wednesday after he stole silverware and tried to pull a knife on the manager, Orlando police said. Thomas D. Knight, 41, refused to pay his $80 tab at High Tide Harry's seafood restaurant and bar and started pocketing silverware and sugar packets, according to a report. The manager told him he would add the silverware to his bill, and Knight reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a folding knife, the report states. The manager grabbed Knight's arm to stop him and the two scuffled as other employees rushed to help the manager.

When the cash-register receipts didn't add up, the manager of a local diner called all the waitresses together for a meeting. "There's some stealing going on here," he said bluntly. "I'm going to start firing all the waitresses in alphabetical order until the guilty party confesses." With that, the manager announced that Donna Adams was the first to go. "But I haven't done anything," she protested. "Why fire me?" Donna burst into tears and ran home. She didn't eat anything for days.

TAVARES - State inspectors had documented dozens of food-safety and sanitation violations at the Soup to Nuts Diner well before celebrity chef Robert Irvine ordered workers to shut down the kitchen and deep clean the eatery in a "Restaurant: Impossible" episode on the Food Network that aired this week. In the past year and a half, inspectors found 70 violations at the diner on U.S. Highway 441, according to the state Department of Business and Professional Regulation. Thirty-seven violations were considered critical and included a grease-encrusted oven and fryer cabinet, moldy walk-in cooler, improperly stored food and an "accumulation" of dead blind mosquitoes in a back room, reports show.